Final Fantasy VIII

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Bigger movies, better graphics, and even more Chocobo!

By IGN Staff

Now that we finally got a playable copy of FF8 in the office, we wanted to share the love with you, the readers, by giving you a rundown on some of the similarities and differences between the PlayStation and PC version. It looks like we'll have the best of both worlds this time around, with the movies of much higher quality than the PC port of FFVII, and an added bonus that US PlayStation gamers don't get the chance to savor.

Most PC fans of the series have been asking about the CG resolution of the movies within the game; FFVII suffered from blotchy movies that didn't do justice to the incredible graphics. This time around the designers have put forth an effort to deliver much higher resolution graphics for the movies, which are much more vital to the latest adventure. Instead of cutting away to CG scenes, you'll see the line blurred polygonal characters inhabit CG environments, sometimes as you're in the midst of controlling them. Squall may be passing over a platform only to have it erupt with explosive energy, or a character may take a position on a rooftop to have the camera raise up into the sky, keeping the polygonal character within the animated CG environment. It's never been done to this extent before, and it's sure to re-ignite the debate between CG fans and cutscene purists. Over an hour of animation puts this game even further into "interactive movie" territory, and I mean that in the best way.

It's a give and take affair as far as graphics are concerned with the PC version -- you'll see much more detail in the characters and battle screens than you would with the now-dated Sony 3D acceleration, but the pre-rendered backgrounds look blotchier due to the sharpness and reduced color-blending of PC monitors. Listen, you can't have everything, mister. You should be happy you even get to play it all, what with your "what about this," and "where about that?" nonsense. The environments are realistic and completely fantastic at the same time, fitting perfectly with the games themes of modern magic and future technology.

Magic in the game takes an odd turn from the Materia-based spells of the last game. This time around, you're left without the ability to learn spells on your own. Instead, you must draw the spells from your enemies and either stock them, or use the spell against them. You'll spend a lot more time drawing from enemies that you will fighting them, particularly early in the game when it's vital to get yourself stocked up on some of the rarer and more important spells.

As Jay spoke of in his earlier preview, Guardian Forces (AKA gigantic monster that demolish on command) are a much more critical part of FFVIII, and resemble Pokemon with the ability to train and teach them additional abilities which can help the owner in possession. The more a character uses a particular GF, the quicker that character will be able to call it in battle, a skill that becomes more important as the game progresses. Because all magic is drawn from other monsters and characters, GF's don't cost anything to cast, enabling you to use them much more frequently in battle. The good part? They can do serious damage to large groups of enemies. The bad part? It's a big one...

Unfortunately, the Guardian Force animations are still as frustratingly unskippable as the PlayStation version, which means that you'll be spending a lot of time watching the animations of characters like Cerberus and Ifrit as they slay your constant enemies. Thank god they're some of the most beautiful cutscenes you've ever seen. Each character has a unique attack that not only affects the characters, but changes the environments themselves -- the Brothers attack actually lifts up the scenery and send it flying up into the sky before crumbling it into pieces. It's a nice effect that makes it that much less monotonous when you have to see it for (literally) the 100th time.

The biggest surprise comes with the inclusion of Chocobo world, a PocketStation add-on (Sony's memory card/mini-game gadget) that American gamers haven't been able to play because of Sony's reluctance to release the peripheral in the states. Not only is it an addictive accessory for wasting time while you do real work (like write this preview), but it unlocks special secrets and items that aren't accessible in the game.

This time around, the game take a much more linear turn, as you don't gain the ability to freely explore the game world until around 20 hours into the game. If you're hoping for the open-ended environments and action of EverQuest, you're likely to get disappointed in FFVIII's aggressive stance on elaborate and lengthy storylines. Stick around though, and you'll find that the adventure is more than worth the effort. With some bugs still being worked out it's hard to say how the final version of FFVIII will fare on the PC, but so far the game looks ready to enthrall the same gamers that enjoyed the last adventure, and all the new fans who have been eagerly awaiting the chance to explore FFVIII's incredible world on their PC's. Come January, you'll have your chance. As for me? Back to Chocobo World. There are some pixelated black dots out there screaming my name.

-- Vincent Lopez

06/07/99

If there was one thing that I miss from the IGNPSX side of things, in addition to the crazy-insane Doug Perry and Craig Harris, it would have to be the RPGs from Square. It's unfortunate that most of Square's lineup will never see the light of day on the PC, shucks. However, if I had to pick one franchise from the limbs of Square's ever-growing RPG tree, it would have to be the Final Fantasy series -- and from the looks of things, Final Fantasy VIII may be the ripest of them all.

Take the role of Squall Leonhart, a troubled 18-year-old who's currently a student at Balamb Garden, one of the many military academies located throughout your home world. In fact, Cid even returns from the previous FF episode as the school's principle! Anyway, Squall hopes to graduate and join the ranks of the "SeeD", a group of elite students from the Garden's training. Not much else is known about the story, but from the looks of things, Squall's scenario seems really similar to Cloud's; love, guilt, some intrigue, then someone dies, you know, the usuals.

So what changes and improvements can you expect to see in this year's Final Fantasy? For starters, the battle system has been radically changed. If you remember from last year's run, and the year before that, and the year before that, and so on, the system menu at the bottom of the screen has been completely removed and replaced with a tiny display list with menu extensions that come up only when needed. The end result, full screen battles which aren't obscured, or housed in, by information windows (sweet).

Square has also completely steered away from the cutesy anime look and has adopted a more serious and realistic presentation. Characters move and look almost lifelike, have facial expressions and are no longer two inches high. However, I'm still not sure which look I prefer. Not to be nostalgic, but man, for those who have played any of the other FFs, well, you all know that even the strongest of gamers can get emotionally attached to those cute little two-inch sprites, I just miss them... perhaps I've admitted something that I shouldn't have, um, let's move on, shall we?

Jumping back to play mechanics, Square has also altered the magic system. The battle engine no longer uses MP, but now has a new Draw system. Basically, your party can 'draw' out magic power from an enemy and can either immediately cast a spell or store it for later use to launch bigger spells, or even summon some Guardians -- oh yeah.

One thing that Square has definitely improved this time around is the CG cutscenes. Now some traditionalists out there will claim that CG doesn't add any additional value to the game, it's Square's way of tricking the gamer into thinking that the game is good (ie Parasite Eve) -- whatever. Square has outdone themselves, again. I won't go into detail of specific scenes, because you've probably seen them already. But let me just say that the level of detail and character animation is just breathtaking. It's the best work they've done yet.

But enough of my yap, just look at all those wonderful screenshots.

-- Jay Boor

05/14/1999 - E3 Update

When Final Fantasy VII hit PCs, a lot of us didn't know what to make of it. There's no doubt that it was a great game, but we weren't sure that PC gamers would accept a traditional console RPG. The title's huge sales showed that they would. Now Squaresoft is giving PC players a new reason to get excited. Final Fantasy VIII, the next title in the series, is being released very shortly after the PlayStation version as part of a SquareSoft plan to start moving in PC development. While this is still very much a PlayStation port, it's a lot better looking and has licked a lot of the video problems that hurt the PC version of Final Fantasy VII.

This time around you'll take the role of Squall, one of a fighting team that is involved in a deep power struggle with another group. The story is a great deal more adult than the previous games and has an emphasis on romance and trust. New characters being introduced in addition to Squall are Rinoa Heartilly, the sorceress Edea, Quistis Trepe, an instructor and your new enemy, Seifer. "The game is a lot more involved relationship-wise," said Randall Fujimoto, Square's VP of Product Development, "it's a lot less cutesy."

The really impressive bit is the new over-the-top spell system. In the short time that I got to play the game (which is still entirely in Japanese, explaining my short storyline summation) I got to see a spell caster summon a demon train to run down his foe, another summon an Ice Sprite who laid waste to the foe she attacked and several other amazing animations and effects.

We're heading down to visit Square soon at their home in Costa Mesa and when we get back we'll be sure to give you all the details on this game and on Square's continuing plans to break in to PC Development. In the meantime, check out these shots...